Thought I might give using priming sugar in a keg for natural carbonation. Should I add the sugar water to the keg prior or after transferring the beer?

After purging the the O2 with CO2 should then shake/swirl the keg to mix the priming sugar or just let it be? I was thinking of using 1/2 the normal priming sugar compared to bottling and then hit the keg with 20 psi after purching to keep it sealed for 3 weeks as it carbonates at 67 F.

Any thoughts?

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Mick Arnett
North Liberty, Iowa
"Beer will change the world. I don't know how, but it will."

I would think that if you put the priming solution in the keg first, and racked into it like you would have a bottling bucket, it will mix up for you. I don't think you need to do anything else other than give it 2-3 weeks to carbonate.

Def. purge the O2 from the keg...

You usually use less priming sugar when carbonating with it in a keg, compared with bottling. Beer Smith has a setting for carbonating a keg with sugar instead of CO2... If you want to mix the two up, that could be tricky... From what I've been reading, hitting the keg wit 20PSI could stop the yeast from doing anything in the brew... Personally, I would pick only one method for carbonating, either on gas or via sugar.

I meant to hit it with 20 psi in order to have a good seal against O2 infiltration, not to try to assist in the carbing process of the sugar or mix the two processes. I should have explained this better. Would 8-10 psi be enough for sealing the kegs?

The reason I am wanting to move into trying natural carb is so I can replace an empty keg with a properly carbed keg w/o having to wait for 2-3 weeks with the set it and forget it method. I should have bought a larger freezer to convert into my keezer to hold more kegs. The convenience of kegging is something I was not fully aware of when I started this process.

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Mick Arnett
North Liberty, Iowa
"Beer will change the world. I don't know how, but it will."

I would think that as long as you get the O-Ring in the lid to seat, you'll be fine... You could probably get it to seat and then vent [most of] the gas out.

Maybe do a dry run with a keg filled with water, to see at what pressure it takes to get the O-Ring to seat, and maintain a seal... I do think that once it starts carbonating, via the sugar, you won't have any issue.

What you're facing is one of the reasons why I'm holding off on going the kegging route. I'm also leaning more towards using 3 gallon corny kegs for most of a batch, and bottling the rest. I do plan on having enough lines in the keezer so that I can carbonate what I want, as well as serve what I want at the same time. Since I'm a ways off from getting the kegging setup, I have plenty of time to plan it out...

I have been thinking about using a corney keg as the primary fermentor in order to try my hand at brewing a lager since my 6.5 gallon bucket won't fit in the fridge. Thus, I would have to find a way for the CO2 to be released from the corney as the beer ferments. Have you had any experience with being able to release the CO2 produced with fermentation?

__________________
Mick Arnett
North Liberty, Iowa
"Beer will change the world. I don't know how, but it will."

I have been thinking about using a corney keg as the primary fermentor in order to try my hand at brewing a lager since my 6.5 gallon bucket won't fit in the fridge. Thus, I would have to find a way for the CO2 to be released from the corney as the beer ferments. Have you had any experience with being able to release the CO2 produced with fermentation?

I simply pulled the pin-lock style relief valve from the lid, and fitted an airlock in it's place (with a small bung)... Worked great... I also used fermcap in the boil, which kept things calm enough that I didn't need to use a blow-off tube... Of course, that could also have been partially due to my yeast choice (Wyeast 1335)... Going to give that brew at least until the weekend before checking on it... Yeast was pitched in on the 2/27, so it's almost a month now...

I'll be doing similar things with the 1/6 size Sanke kegs I picked up last week. Going to be moving a strong scotch ale into one to age on some oak cubes. It's been on the yeast for just over 5 weeks (brewed 2/13)... Should be a solid brew...

As for samc's comments about sugar... I've used honey and turbinado/dememera sugar to prime my batches (bottling at this point)... I see that as the more natural option when compared to forcing CO2 gas into a keg.. Minimally processed sugars (such as honey, turbinado, and dememera sugar) are several fold better than corn sugar, or ultra-processed white sugars. You'll never find me using white sugar in my brews.